The present invention pertains to a device for handling bottles, especially empty plastic bottles.
Collecting and palletizing units for empty glass bottles have been known from practice. They comprise a palletizing unit and an upstream collecting device, which is connected to a bottle conveyor. The collecting device is used to take over the bottles fed in in rows by the bottle conveyor and to form layers of bottles. The collection device comprises a piling table or a piling conveyor, on which the bottles are placed row by row by the bottle conveyor. The bottles then move, standing, along the piling table or conveyor without being guided and are pushed together into a layer of bottles at the end in the piling area. The palletizing unit can grasp them here with bottle grippers layer by layer and build them up into a bottle stack, the so-called pallet, on a palletizing tray, while inserts and cover layers are pushed in. This collecting and palletizing technique is suitable for heavy and stable bottles. By contrast, it cannot be used with sufficient reliability for lightweight plastic bottles, especially so-called PET bottles. These types of bottles are difficult to handle because of their low weight, the electrostatic charge and due to the high feed velocity of the bottle conveyor. In addition, the possibilities of intervening with and controlling this plant are limited.
The object of the present invention is to provide a better bottle handling device.
According to the invention, a device for handling bottles, especially empty plastic bottles is provided. The device has a handling system with at least one collecting device for taking over bottles fed to it and a plurality of said transportable intermediate carriers. The handling system loads a plurality of the transportable intermediate carriers with the bottles. The handling system also has at least one storage facility for the intermediate storage of filled and/or empty intermediate carriers.
The design of the bottle handling system according to the present invention with collecting device, transportable intermediate carriers and storage facility makes it possible to buffer the bottles between the individual handling areas. The capacity of the plant, its flexibility and also its reliability of operation are markedly increased as a result. The formation of a buffer within the plant offers the great advantage that it entails a relatively low cost. In particular, the hitherto common and very expensive pneumatic conveyors become dispensable as a result. These pneumatic conveyors were used as buffers between the bottle producer and the collecting device or the palletizing device and had to have a corresponding length. The cost, the design effort and the space requirements are substantially reduced in the internal storage facility within the plant. Moreover, the buffer function has been substantially improved and increased.
The present invention offers a large number of functional and design variants of the bottle handling system. This applies to the plant capacity, which can be increased, to the said storage possibilities and various internal and external carrier circulations. In particular, it is advantageous that the intermediate carrier can stop during the transfer operation, which ensures a high accuracy of deposition and positioning. The formation of layers on the intermediate carrier makes possible the correct commissioning of the bottles for the pallets and a high palletizing capacity.
The intermediate carriers according to the present invention preferably have a bottle guide. As a result, the bottles are in a secured position and can also be removed in the correct position for removal from the pallet and for repeated separation at a filling unit or the like. Due to the design of the intermediate carrier according to the present invention and also of the collecting device, the bottles cannot fall over any more and cannot cause any disturbances in operation. In particular, the device according to the present invention is able to also take up bottles at very high feed velocities, to transfer them row by row, to assign them to rows and to load the intermediate carrier correspondingly. The device according to the present invention has a very high performance capacity as a result.
It is particularly advantageous that the closing of the row of the bottle rows fed in at laterally spaced locations from one another is also carried out with a high degree of reliability. The row is closed during the transfer within the circulating means of the transfer unit by laterally adjustable row grippers. The bottles can then be ultimately arranged in the bottle layer ultimately formed on the intermediate carrier in a dense layer suitable for the final palletization.
The device according to the present invention may also be set and converted for different bottle formats with relatively little effort.
In the case of the embodiment of the bottle handling device according to the present invention, the proneness to error and breakdown is extensively minimized. This increases the reliability of operation of the entire plant. The question of capacity can be solved by the intermediate storage facility. This makes it possible to use, in particular, a central palletizing unit for the entire plant and a further reduction in the risk of breakdown. The storage facility equalizes the different throughput of the bottle producers and of the central palletizing unit or of another bottle handling means, e.g., a washing unit, a filling unit or the like and it can be used, on the other hand, as a buffer in case of breakdown or disturbance of individual components of the plant. Above all, the bottle producer is cut off from any disturbing effects from the area of the palletizing unit or conveyor system.
The bottle handling device according to the present invention can be expanded into a larger plant, in which the individual devices may overlap and complement one another. The number and the assignment of the individual components, especially of the collecting devices, the palletizing units or the like can also be adapted in a suitable manner.
The device according to the present invention requires relatively little effort in terms of design and control engineering despite high reliability. It also requires little space and can be expanded in the above-mentioned manner as desired. Existing plants may also be retrofitted with it. The device according to the present invention is not bound to certain materials or formats of bottles but can be used for any bottle. Furthermore, it does not require any specially trained operating personnel.
In the preferred embodiment, the intermediate carriers circulate within the bottle handling device and are used for the layer by layer transport of the empty bottles between the bottle producer and the palletizing unit or other handling means. In addition, the intermediate carriers may, however, also circulate in a larger circulation by acting themselves as a pallet component and reaching, together with the empty bottles, first the filling unit and from there optionally even the consumers via the commercial connections. From here, they can optionally also be returned into the bottle handling device. This form of intermediate carrier with a preferably permanent bottle circulation in the entire circuit facilitates the different bottle handling operations and simplifies the construction and the machinery at the bottle producer, bottler and in logistics.
Some particularly advantageous embodiments of the design of the intermediate carriers are described herein. The design with a folded bottom is especially simple and inexpensive. The design as a display carrier has the advantage that the intermediate carrier is optimally suitable for the external circulation and for the way up to the consumer. In case of a corresponding design, the display carrier may return as tare in the circulation. However, it may also be disposed of as a disposable packaging at a suitable point. An intermediate carrier with plate bottom offers particularly favorable possibilities for forming layers and the transfer of the bottles, and the kinematics of the collecting device can be simplified and improved. Moreover, such an intermediate carrier can also be unloaded analogously, and the same advantages are obtained.
The intermediate carriers according to the present invention may be designed as multiformat carriers for different types and sizes of bottles. However, they may also be adapted for a special type of bottle, at least as far as the design of the interior space is concerned. Different intermediate carriers or identical intermediate carriers can thus be correspondingly used in the bottle handling device. The intermediate carriers preferably have the same size among each other, but they may also vary in this respect.